Raveendran is an Indian actor, primarily concentrating in Malayalam and Tamil films[1] and he was a very busy actor of both these languages in the 1980s. A multi-faceted personality, Raveendran is also a screenwriter, interior designer, anchor, a film scholar, an acting coach, social activist[2][3][4] and director of film festivals like Kochi Metro (Malayalam) Short Film Fest.[5][6][7][8][9] He is an alumnus of the Adyar Film Institute.[10]

Raveendran
Born
Thampi Elias

Other namesDisco Raveendran
Ravindher
Thampi
Alma materAdyar Film Institute
Occupations
  • Actor
  • Film scholar
  • Filmmaker
  • TV anchor
  • Interior designer
Years active1980–1995
2004–present
SpouseSuma
Children3
Parents
  • Elias
  • Dr. Saramma

Career

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Raveendran had his specialisation in acting and passed out from Adyar Film Institute (now called M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute) in 1979.[10] He made his feature film debut in the Tamil mega hit Oru Thalai Ragam (1980) and later he acted in 140 films in different languages including Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu. He played the second lead in Kamal Haasan and Rajnikanth movies like Sakalakala Vallavan, Per Sollum Pillai, Ram Lakshman, Ranga, Thankamagan and Pokkiri Raja. Often cited as Disco Raveendran[7] for his dance movements, he concentrated more in Malayalam with I. V. Sasi movies like Ashwaradham, Ee Nadu, John Jaffer Janardhanan, Innalenkil Nale, Sindoora Sandhyakku Mounam, Iniyengilum, Athiratram, Idanilangal, Karimpinpoovinakkare, Rangam, Abhayam Thedi and was a part of numerous hit films until he decided to quit movies. In Tamil, he has also done major roles in Echchil Iravugal, Poikkal Kudhirai, En Priyame and Kutravaaligal. He became a notable film star through his acting in almost 80 superhit films like Ram Lakshman, Sakalakala Vallavan, Ee Nadu, Madrasile Mon, Pappayude Swantham Appoos, etc. He did a wide variety of genres like action, romantic, and comedy who has exposed his artistic villain characters and has become a sensation who did equal par roles with the South Indian superstars at his prime. He has acted in films directed by famous South Indian directors like K. Balachander, S. P. Muthuraman, I. V. Sasi, and Hariharan. He has also worked with big production companies like AVM, Navodaya, Devar Films, Sathya Movies and Dwarakesh.

He came back to films and did smaller roles till 2013 and then played one of the lead roles in Idukki Gold directed by Aashiq Abu and Kili Poyi directed by Vinay Govind.[11][12] He made his debut as story writer through Sathyan Anthikad's Ennum Eppozhum and is the festival director of Kochi Metro (Malayalam) Short Film Fest.[13][14][15]

Raveendran is also an interior designer and has introduced and executed the innovative steel structural space frames of UC College Stadium, Gulfar convention center, Kannamaly and Kothad churches, Kochi and the Petrol bunk at Bakery Junction, Thiruvananthapuram.[1][16]

Personal life

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He is born to Elias and Dr. Saramma at Thrippunithura, Kerala, India.[17] He completed 2 years of acting course at South India Film Chambers, Chennai and completed degree course at Film and Television Institute of India, Pune.

He is married to Suma. The couple have three children, Mareena, Bibin and Fabin.[18] His son Fabin has acted in Idukki Gold (film) in Michael's childhood role.[19]

Recognitions

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Raveendran has been conducting classes, seminars and festivals on cinema studies, drama, theatre works and short movies.[20] Monsoon Film Fest, a traveling film festival, directed by Ravindhar, has been presented even in Paris. He has been the director of Peace International Film festival (1995 to 2008), Swaralaya International Film Festival (2007 to 2008) and has conducted various film festivals like Bharathan Film Festival, Padmarajan Festival, Lohithadas Festival, etc. over various universities in Kerala. He has also presented several programmes about cinema and sports in the major Malayalam television channels such as Asianet and Kairali, premiered a political satire programme in India Vision during the time of general election and has judged dancing reality shows in major TV channels. He has also joined for religious documentaries of Varapuzha and Ernakulam dioceses.

Other achievements

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Raveendran has attained his Masters Certificate in Construction Management from the World of Concrete, USA (1996). He has been the convener of Indian Concrete Institute, Kerala (1995-2000) and has had his name highlighted for preparing various structures together with the concepts for Kerala's biggest construction centre, Gulfar. His contributions further stretch the list to Fisheries Department's Hatchery Shed, Bharat Petroleum gas filling station in Trivandrum, churches in Kochi (Kothad and Kalamaserry), etc. The structure design partners of the aforesaid projects were big institutions like Madras IIT, SCRC, and Anna University.[21]

In 1996 The Economic Times reported Raveendran as India's most important building material distributor. He has also secured various medals from Tata Steel, Birla Cement, ACL, LST and other companies. For the first time, Tata's director of sales prepared a 15 page booklet on Raveendran's marketing strategy and sent to all zonal managers in India.

Raveendran is also a well known interior designer in Kerala and has also worked as an interior designer in the Handicraft Development Corporation of Kerala.

Present endeavours

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Presently Raveendran is the director of ‘Elias Foundations’ and is conducting film festivals and film appreciation courses in GCC countries and various universities in South India. He has conducted researches on film economics, movie aesthetics and businesses, film culture and technology and is now engaged in writing, directing and producing documentaries for Elias Foundations. Raveendran has been having a great connection with the UAE authorities. Him along with Mohanlal has conducted the first ever UAE national day celebration outside the country of the UAE.[22] He has supervised film festivals and free filmmaking workshops in all the Emirates and has presented seminars in Sharjah International Book Fair about the topics “Visual Literacy” in 2019 and 2022 and “Semiotics of Moving Images” in 2021.[23][24]

He has also done an interview about his experience undergoing a test for COVID-19 and that has published as an article in the official news agency of the UAE, Emirates News Agency, also known as WAM.

Filmography

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Actor

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Tamil

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Writer

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Year Film Cast Director
2015 Ennum Eppozhum (Story) Mohanlal, Manju Warrier, Reenu Mathews Sathyan Anthikad

References

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  1. ^ a b "സകലകലാ വല്ലഭന്‍" [Master of all arts]. Mangalam. Archived from the original on 13 February 2013.
  2. ^ "Actor Raveendran's Bike Rally on Republic day". Reporter Live. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  3. ^ "Alcohol Drug-free New Year celebration In Kochi - സുബോധം വിവാ ലാ വിദ". Asianet News. 31 December 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  4. ^ "Kochi Ready For Druggless New year Celebration". Manorama News. 29 December 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  5. ^ "Short film fest a launching pad for beginners: Raveendran". mathrubhuminews. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  6. ^ Prakash, Asha (28 October 2013). "I don't want to be a full time actor : Raveendran". The Times of India. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  7. ^ a b Jayaram, Deepika (27 January 2017). "People wanted to see me as a dancer or a villain and gradually I started enjoying doing such roles: Raveendran". The Times of India. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  8. ^ Pradeep, K (3 April 2015). "In a brand new role". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  9. ^ "மீண்டும் சினிமாவுக்கு திரும்பினார் ரவீந்தர்". Dinamalar. 21 September 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Visual literacy at its best". New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  11. ^ "After 'Kili Poyi', Raveendran to shine in 'Idukki Gold'". Sify. 6 June 2013. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  12. ^ "Actor Ravindran's story for Mohanlal-Manju Warrier film". Metro Matinee. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  13. ^ Prashant, N.D. (11 April 2018). "Kochi Metro Short Film Fest free training from Thursday". Gulf News. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  14. ^ "Kochi Metro Short Film Fest forays into Kuwait". Kuwait Times. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  15. ^ Beegum, Nazeem (21 September 2016). "Kochi Metro UAE Short Film Fest begins tomorrow". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  16. ^ "Raveendran – A life dedicated to cinema". Kerala9.com.
  17. ^ "The Gold Buddy". Mangalam. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014.
  18. ^ "കൊച്ചി' ഗോള്‍ഡ്" [Cochin Gold]. Mangalam. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013.
  19. ^ "Manorama Online Latest Malayalam News. Breaking News Events. News Updates from Kerala India". Manoramaonline.com. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  20. ^ "The Hindu Metro plus". The Hindu. 3 April 2015.
  21. ^ "മീഡിയവൺടിവി ലൈവ്". YouTube. 21 October 2013.
  22. ^ "Gulf News Daily". 28 November 2019.
  23. ^ "mathrubhumi News paper". 23 July 2022.
  24. ^ "malayala manorama News paper".
  25. ^ Features, C. E. (11 May 2024). "Raai Laxmi's DNA gets a release date". Cinema Express. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
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